St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-09-18
There Is Somewhat of a Cessation in
the Intensity of the Craze Of
Late Years.


vOtaries that it is no less instructive
than attractive. And when any object
i'll life combines these double qualities
of pleasure and instruction, even though
it be a somewhat faded ''fad,' it is
worth at least a passing notice.
Postage stamps were first introduced
i'll England in 1910 by Sir Rowland Hill,
postmaster general, who has gained for
himself in history the appellation of
''Father of the Penny Post" Two cen
turtles before that stamped envelopes
Were introduced in France under Louis
XIV, but the s..Snlps were seldom used
and were soon entirely iSS."~~otten. In
the next century the Spanish govern
ment used stamps on official letters, but
after some years abandoned them. The
government of Sardinia introduced
them in 1918, but gave them up in 1886.
Several other attempts at their use were
made by other governments.
BUT ALL WE'RE UNSUCCESSFUL,
and it is to Rowland Hill that the world
owes that great convenience for dis
patching business with the postoffice,
the postage stamp. While he did not
invent it. he made it a success, and is
entitled to all the credit therefor. From
England the use of stamps for letters
spread throughout the civilized world,
and they were first introduced into the
United States in 1S47.
AS these stamps bore the portraits of the
sovereigns of the countries issuing them,
or, as with the United States, the por-
traits of Washington, Franklin and 9TH
erS of the great statesmen, passion
for collecting those which had
itself. 1t first commenced in Belgium
in 1S49, among the girls and boys at the
numerous schools in that country. Older
people then took it up, and the Infection,
like many more famous mania, rapidly
spread throughout Europe and leaped
over to the United States. In Paris. in
one of the boulevardS near the Tuileries,
a regular crowd of men and women,
girls and boys assembled every Sunday
for the purpose of exchanging or traffic
ing in postage stamps, and the scenes
there became as animated as on the
bourse itself. When the mania reached
London, It's victims also established
street exchange, and crowds. in
which were many people of high
rank, nightly copyrighted at
sold and exchanged postage stamps. A
new trade or business sprang up, and
periodicals were started in the interests
of stamp collectors. Many books have
since been published on the subject,and
it may now be said to have literature
of its own. Ten years ago there was
scarcely town or village throughout
this country that did not have its stamp
collectors, and the papers everywhere
contained many advertisements offering
to buy. sell OF exchange stamps. But,
like all infectious diseases, it has largely
died out, though the meeting of few
enthusiasts in Chicago may cause it to
revive again and have another run. The
votaries of this
WHIMSICAL PASSION
can, no doubt, lay claim to many adj
ventures, both mental and moral, be-
longing to their pursuit. 1t affords
them an opportunity for the display of
artistic taste and skill in the arrange
ment of the many-tinted and often beau
tifully engraved stamps of their cOllec-
tionS. The possession of stamps from
various countries suggests the study of
the history of those countries, the cir
cumstances attending the adoption and
issue of stamps, and why some, like
France, have made so many changes in
their issue of stamps, while other
lands, like Russia, have made no change
at all. This leads naturally to the
study of the various forms of govern
ment such countries have had. The
study of geography also follows, that
ton of the world the stamp comes, A
well-Ordered collection of stamps pre-
Sents an epitome of the worlds history
for the last forty years. They show in
that time that France has passed from
kingdom to a republic, thence to an en-
pire, and then back to a republic again.
They show, too, how the Italian states
were once independent, or under the
dominion of Austria, and have
since been consolidated under the
government of a single king.
They show how the papal authority lost
its temporal power, and how the king
of Prussia, from being the ruler of
single state, has become the emperor of
Germany and the master of the might
est empire of modern times. They mark
the rise and fall of Louis Napoleon,
show that Spain was for time a re-
public, and that in this country hos
tile government for four years set up it's
own authority to issue postage stamps
and defied for that time the whole power
of the United States. These and many
more instructive lessons in modern his
tory, it is claimed, are taught by the
postage stamps or are suggested by
them.
The most beautiful stamps are said to
be those of the Sandwich islands, bear
ing the likeness of the king, and being
THE FINEST POSTAL PORTRAITS
Ever engraved. Ceylon has the
finest stamped envelopes in the world,
while the English stamp bearing the
image of Victoria, is the ugliest, unless
an exception be made in favor of the
Confederate States. These last are the
most historical stamps collectable, and
some of them now bring a high price
of the ordinances of secession,
the postmasters of New Or
leans, Nashville, Memphis, Mo-
bile, Baton Rouge and other
towns, finding it impossible to do bust
ness without stamps, issued them on
their own responsibility until set for
the Confederacy could be manufac-
tured. Specimens of these are ex-
tremely rare. The first series issued by
the Confederate government were of
three values-2,5 and 10 cents-and were
Autographed in Richmond. These re-
manned current until 1863, when theywere
replaced by cent stamp prepared in
England, and subsequently by cent,
10 cent, and 20 cent stamp engraved in
Richmond. These stamps bore the por-
traits of Washington, John q. Calhoun
and Jefferson Davis.
More than ten years ago an advertise
ment appeared in Philadelphia news
paper Offering 800 for 100000 stamps.
1t was said shortly afterwards that by
the aid of some prominent business men
in that city young boy collected the
requisite number and obtained the re-
ward. However that may be, some
young people in family undertook to
gather that number. Pursuing their
course industriously for several months,
one of them made a calculation and
found that at the rate they were going
they might gather 10000 in year. She
became quite hopeful upon this, until